The Magic of Snow Days

 

Where have all the snow days gone?

I feel like I need to write a song with that title. When I was a child, we rarely had snow days. Our superintendent's last name was Ader, and he was not one to call them often. He did, however, call a lot of one-hour delays. Thus, the nickname "one-hour later Ader."

As lawsuits and risks to young drivers became more prevalent, we began having more snow days. Superintendents didn't want to be responsible if someone was in an accident on the way to school. My kids would pray for snow and the surprise early morning phones calls announcing a SNOW DAY! We would have 5 snow days built into our school, and we didn't have to make them up. Actually, if we didn't use them, we had the Fridays in May off! A teacher appreciation gift for every teacher!

But those days are gone too. Now, we have eLearning days. Days filled with onscreen teaching and missing assignments that kids don't do. I don't know who dislikes it more, the kids or the teachers. I usually create an assignment that has them go outside, play, observe, and then come back and write.

I wonder if this pendulum will swing back the other way. I wonder if we will get to enjoy the magic of snow days once again.

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.